Helping People Has Benefits
by Nani-1-9-5
Summary: Ryou Bakura is an observant person. Often unnoticed by his peers, he sees a chance to make himself known and hepl his friends, all at once. But will it work? One-shot


Helping People had Benefits

Hi Everyone! This is my first story, so bear with me. I'm sorry if it's awful, but pleased review! I do not own yu-gi-oh or any of it's characters!

Ryou Bakura notices a lot. People think that because he is shy and reclusive that he is also disconnected with the world around him. In fact, reality is quite the opposite and he is only by himself as a force of habit, the rumours that started with his arrival only increasing in magnitude and his "friends" being too caught up in their own lives to even recognise him (do they know his first name? Or is he just "Bakura" now, the same name they called _him?) _The obvious truth that he is often alone means he observes people, maybe too often, and he can say without a doubt that he would rather be alone.

With a Yami, you learn lots. Not just from them, as in how he learnt to duel from watching the many shadow games his yami had taught him, but just the yami's skills. They seep through cracks in the mindlink and slowly, tendrils of memories and abilities crawl into the hikari's soul and latch on to the depths of their minds until there is no distinction between what was there originally and what wasn't. Ryou had been blessed with all of the tomb Robber's memories, including the horrors of Kul Elna, and now started to regret not helping the thief before his passing (which Ryou also found unfair. IT was not _his _fault that Zorc took him over, so why is his yami punished?), and as well as this had picked up the handy ability of observation. A thief needs to be aware for traps, and Ryou has picked up on many things about his friends that they would rather keep a secret.

He watched Yugi first; the boy who had a yami just like he did. Only a week after the ancient spirits had gone to the afterlife, the hikari had started to wear long sleeves. This was alright, as it was starting to get cold, but Ryou couldn't help but notice that he would never roll them up. In gym, he would refuse to change in front of others, and Ryou thought he was being bullied again without his Yami to protect him, but then a puzzle began to complete itself. Yami and hikari were always close, no matter what the circumstances, and it only made sense that Yugi would be upset. But as he started to become reclusive, Ryou only just caught on to just how close they must have been. After all, Ryou was shagging his yami, so why couldn't Yugi? Yugi had lost a lover, and was punishing himself for sending him away.

Tea came next. She went to the toilet often, and Ryou could only assume it was a girl thing, to "powder her nose" or something ridiculous. But the unmistakable smell was evident, and it only took following her home once to see her smoking cigarettes on the school roof. She thought it would make her thinner, better, but the only thing it did was drive her away from her friends.

Joey wasn't that hard to figure out. Everyone in the group knew that Joey's father was not a prime example, and when he came to school with a few cuts or bruises nobody questioned it, just helped him to the nurse and covered his back. However, nobody noticed when the cuts and bruises got worse, deeper, and when Joey would stop coming to school for a day, maybe a few. Ryou also saw him and Kaiba sneaking peeks at each other during lunchtime, and after a bit of searching found out that they weren't together yet. He would be fixing that.

Tristan was obviously uncomfortable with the fact he was gay and attracted to Duke. Duke was uncomfortable that he had a crush on Tristan who he thought was straight. The group Ryou was once part of was falling apart, and he would be damned if he let it. This was his chance to make a name for himself, to get _noticed, _and he would not let it fall from his grasp. Since he was the only one who knew the problems, he was going to be the one to fix them.

After several failed attempts, Ryou finally managed to get Tristan and Duke drunk enough to kiss (after all, Ryou was _so _innocent. He would never spike anyone's drink). In the end, they shagged each other and woke up with killer hangovers. But, when Monday arrived and both of them came into school holding hands with Tristan limping, he called his job a success.

Ryou wasn't dumb enough to think that he could handle child abuse by himself, but he knew someone who could. It was a cold, winter night and when he found a beat-up Joey on the streets, he dragged him to the Kaiba mansion and placed him gently outside the gates, before ringing the doorbell and hoping someone was in. When, two seconds later, the stoic man himself came out in a dressing gown crying out Joey's name and carrying him bridal style into the heat of the house, Ryou took his leave. It took less than a week for Joey's father to be put behind bars for child abuse, so Ryou could only guess that money really does talk.

Tea's problem was slightly harder to fix. He didn't want to stroll up to her and say "You smell like shit, you been smoking? Need a hand?" because he knew it would never go down well (this being his observant nature kicking in again). Instead, he figured it would be safer to "accidentally" walk in on it and offer assistance, before waiting for her to come to him. The plan went off without a hitch. As soon as he walked in on her, she started bawling her eyes out, crying about how she didn't want to live like this anymore. The process was slow at first, occasionally going to meetings with her, supporting her and finding her information on the internet. Within a month, she only went to the "toilet" at home, never at school, until it was just weekends, and then never. Ryou had never been more proud of himself.

Yugi was the hardest. The confrontation came before gym when Yugi was exposed, and it took almost a month for Yugi to admit to Ryou he had a problem. Unfortunately, Yugi refused to get outside help due to his new-found fame and possible ruined reputation as the "innocent little boy". He was convinced it was his fault that Atem was gone, and there was nothing Ryou could do. He started panicking. Marik came round and it turned out that his life was not perfect either. His yami, now dubbed "Mariku", was only insane due to the amount of time he had been locked in the shadow realm during Marik's childhood, and Marik blamed himself for getting Mariku punished for something that was not his fault. Ryou knew the only way to fix the hikaris was to get the yamis to do it. So, for the first time since Amane's death, he prayed:

"Ra, if you can hear me, please give our yamis back. Yugi is hurting himself physically, Marik mentally, and I miss mine more than anything. We love them, we _need _them. Please...please..."

The biggest surprise of his life was the next day. Getting to school, he got glomped by a small Yugi screaming how Atem was back from the afterlife and staying. After remembering his prayer he looked to the playground to see a taller version of Yugi standing next to a taller, wilder version of Marik, apparently holding a decent conversation. _Well I'll be..._ As the day wore on, Ryou only got more anxious. _Is my yami not coming back? _Of course Ra would never give Akeifa back. He committed crimes against the gods themselves; it was too much to ask.

The rest of the day was a nightmare. He had to listen to the same story ten times over; how the yamis had appeared (naked!) in the beds of their respective hikaris, how Mariku was cured of his insanity (mostly) and how neither of them had shadow powers anymore. He had to watch the pairs suck off each other's faces and pretend not to be sickened in case someone thought he was homophobic (how could he be? He was gay!), and yet he never got a thank you from anyone within the group he had patched up, not one even though he was the one who had done _all_ the work. And when he got home the only thing he could do was cry his heart out. Why was everyone he loved taken away from him?

He skipped school for the next week, but he was a term ahead so it did not matter. The group had not visited him, but he was not surprised. In fact, his only visitor was Ishizu, who was just as observant as Ryou himself, and when she had discovered that Marik had told him about his predicament the day before the yami's return, had immediately deduced that he was involved. It only took one look from her all-knowing eyes for Ryou to break, to collapse and tell her everything, to cry on her shoulder and listen to her telling him that it would all be alright.

It was a bleary, raining Saturday morning when Ryou woke the next day, only to find himself wrapped in someone's arms. Their defined muscles holding him close their bare legs entangled with his... wait bare? Ryou looked up to see a sleeping tomb robber holding him for all he was worth, and he could not help but let his eyes well up with happy tears. His lover woke up at the sound of his sobs, and as soon as he saw Ryou strated to comfort his lover, just as confused as Ryou was. Hadn't he just been in the shadow realm? What was going on? They both spotted a note on my bedside table, and as his Akeifa pulled Ryou into his lap, rested his head on Ryou's shoulder and read it aloud to him, he could not help but grab his phone and call Marik's home, hoping someone was there.

To one Ryou Bakura,

I hope this message find you in good health. We could not figure out what was wrong with our Pharaoh and his now Habibi, but you did. You have helped his friends, and they are now a group, as they once were. Therefore, the Gods of Egypt bestow upon you this gift of the Tomb Robber you prayed for many days ago, that Ishizu Ishtar has once again called for on your behalf. We thank you for your kindness, Ryou Bakura.

From Ra


End file.
